Small item found near 1850 mill site...Need ID

[West Jersey Detecting]

I found this after hours of searching a forest for a mill that appears on an old map. I found the site late in the day and the sun was beginning to dip so I didn't have a lot of time to hunt the area. It may have been hit already, there were only mid & low readings. This read just a hair above a US nickel. Pewter, perhaps? I thought it was trash until I notices the detail.

Ideas?

 

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[gldhntr]

not sure but possibly handle to take hot round burner eyes off woodstove ?.......

 

[DCMatt]

Small drawer or cabinet door pull?

DCMatt

 

[1liquigirl]

A zipper pull? Just a thought

 

[Monty]

I think liquigirl got it! Monty

 

[Comanche Todd]

A zipper pull? Just a thought

the zipper wasnt invented until 1927

 

[diggummup]

Small drawer or cabinet door pull?

DCMatt

That'd be my guess too.

 

[AU24K]

I agree with DC MATT
Scott

 

[Montana Jim]

Just for something to read... interesting.

The history of the zipper.

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm

 

[TreasureTales]

No clue what it is. I'd keep it just because it's interesting. Whenever I see something old and metalic with an open area like this thing, I think the open area was to allow heat to dissipate...like the handle of a castiron frying pan. So I'm thinking this thing was attached to something that got hot. But it's far too small to be part of a stove lid lifter. Sure doesn't look like pewter in the photo. Looks like iron. My favorite question comes to mind: does a magnet stick to it? Knowing a little more about it may help get the anwer.

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

The item is not magnetic. As I stated earlier, it read slightly higher than a US nickel, and did not jump around at all. I could, perhaps be copper, but even small copper items tend to read a little higher.

My thought is that it may have been a piece of copper jewelry hung from a string and worn around the neck. Copper jewelry was popular. I found this other copper "mojo" charm on my last outing. I thought it was junk, until I magnified it. The charm is about half the size of a penny and measures ten millimeters tall by seven millimeters wide; it weighs less than a gram. It is one dimensional, and appears to be stamped copper or brass alloy. The area was a stop on the underground railroad, and this has produced many flat buttons from the era, but no coins. “Mojo hands” were reported to have been able to ward off the evil eye.

 

[TreasureTales]

Well, your Mojo Hands Charm and your item in question certainly have some similar characteristics. The quality of workmanship (or lack thereof) are similar, as are the details of their designs. If it's copper, a small area could be polished to expose the true color. I wouldn't recommend the entire piece be polished, but a small area would determine the material--if it polishes. Pewter doesn't polish well at all.

 

[dugupfinds]

Definately looks like Copper-Alloy with a high copper content. Looks an early piece in American terms.

 

[Monty]

Well, heck Todd, just because it might be a zipper pull doesn't mean it couldn't have been dropped some time later than 1850. Monty

 

[Montana Jim]

Well, heck Todd, just because it might be a zipper pull doesn't mean it couldn't have been dropped some time later than 1850. Monty

True. True. True. We live layer on top of layer...

 

[Michelle]

Small drawer or cabinet door pull?

DCMatt

yes

 

[Don in SJ]

Neil the item could be a number of things, but I agree that it is NOT a zipper pull. Neil, I do not in any way think that it is jewelry either, I go with the drawer or cabinet door pull crowd or part of some other functional device. Also, fairly certain it is an 1800's artifact.

Don